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Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok
Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok after a ten-week hiatus. There’s no specifics regarding the deal, but it doesn’t extend to other Universal artists.
TikTok is muting all Universal Music-related songs
More songs are disappearing from and being muted on TikTok. The platform is at loggerheads with Universal Music Group over royalty payments.
Appeals court overturns $1 billion copyright lawsuit against Cox
An appeals court has blocked a $1 billion copyright verdict against US internet service provider Cox Communications and ordered a retrial.
YouTube Shorts now lets you chop up and remix music videos
YouTube just announced a new tool for its short-form content, otherwise called Shorts, that lets people remix music videos. This is happening just as Taylor Swift and other Universal artists are leaving the rival app TikTok.
Universal Music threatens to pull songs from TikTok over payment terms
Universal Music Group (UMG) is threatening to pull all of its music from TikTok today following a breakdown in negotiations over royalties.
Mercedes-Benz is the first to roll out Apple Music's Spatial Audio in cars
After announcing it nearly a year ago, Mercedes-Benz is finally rolling out Apple Music's Spatial Audio in select electric and luxury vehicles.
Record labels sue Charter over copyright infringement claims
Charter Communications has been sued by a group of major record labels who claim it has failed to address "flagrant and serial" music copyright infringement.
Europe approves Universal - EMI merger, cements the dominance of the 'big three'
The European Union has signed off on Universal's $1.9 billion purchase of EMI music, provided that it sells off two-thirds of the fallen giant's assets to comply with competition regulations. The most notable jewel on the auction block is label Parlophone, home of the early Beatles records, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Kylie. Chiefs added the conditions in the hope of preventing the new mega-corporation from gaining too much market share, but given that Sony (which bought EMI's publishing arm) and Warner Music are its only real competitors -- it's sealed the trio as the only guests at the top table of the music industry, problematic for anyone looking to found an iTunes or Spotify rival and doesn't fancy playing by their rules.
Apple's iCloud bags last major record label, will cost $25 / year to sign up?
We'd heard that Universal was the only holdout, and now CNET says the deal is done -- Apple has reportedly signed all four major record labels for its upcoming iCloud service. We'll be bringing you all the confirmed details on June 6th, but while you wait, here's some food for thought: the Los Angeles Times says that Apple will eventually charge somewhere around $25 a year for a subscription to the cloud. That will help supplement the 58 percent piece of the pie it's planning to take from the music industry for songs distributed though the network, and possibly some ad revenue as well. 30 percent will reportedly go to the labels, and another 12 percent to publishers, who will apparently be signing their own agreements with Apple tomorrow. Update: There's actually an interesting discrepancy between the two sources here: the LA Times reports that Apple's taking that nice, juicy 58 percent, but CNET says that the labels will take 58 percent while Apple claims its traditional 30 percent instead. We're investigating. Update 2: The LA Times has updated its piece, with different percentages still -- reportedly, Apple will take 18 percent, publishers get 12 percent, and labels 70 percent of the proceedings.
Apple gets cozy with EMI, Universal, and Sony over cloud music licensing (updated)
Ah, so it's all coming together now. Following a report on Warner Music inking a cloud streaming deal with Apple, CNET is back with fresh information that sees three more major record companies jumping on board. Citing "multiple music industry sources," we're told that EMI is the latest addition to Apple's cloud music portfolio, while Universal and Sony are close to sealing the deal to permit this rumored iCloud service. If true, such endorsement will no doubt add pressure on Google and Amazon over their cheeky, license-free cloud streaming offerings -- not a bad way to fend off competition, though it's not clear how much money's involved. Guess we'll know more at WWDC next month. Update: Bloomberg is citing multiple source who claim that Sony has inked a deal with Apple leaving only Universal to play coy. Two sources claim that Apple's cloud music service won't require users to upload their music.
Apple working on unlimited downloads of purchased iTunes music, setting MobileMe free?
You know all that rumor and speculation about Apple launching a subscription-based streaming music service? Forget it -- at least until the next rumor comes along. Bloomberg is citing three people with knowledge of private talks between Apple, Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music to make purchased music more easily accessible to iTunes users. Two sources claim that an agreement could be announced by midyear. Contrary to popular speculation aroused by Apple's purchase of Lala, they're not talking about streaming music from Apple's new North Carolina data center scheduled to come online in the spring. According to Bloomberg's sources, Apple is instead, planning to offer unlimited downloads to any device linked to the same iTunes account. So, purchase a track on your iPhone and download it again for free to your iPad without having to go back and tether the mobile device to your PC or Mac for a sync. Hard disk crash? No worries, there's a permanent backup in the cloud. Of course, there's nothing preventing Apple from providing unlimited downloads in parallel with a streaming service except for the labels and artists who prefer the higher revenues paid out by download services. Then again, if it was left to them we'd still be buying our music on $15 CDs. Incidentally, one Bloomberg source was also caught blabbing about Apple's plans to overhaul the MobileMe service to store pictures, video, and other online content sometime this year. Better yet, it could drop from $99 per year to free -- something already reported by the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago.
Universal Music and Sony releasing singles same day they hit the radio, will anyone buy them?
The humble single has been given a new shot at life, an extension to the lease on its breathing machine, a little more food in its tube. Universal Music and Sony have begun a new policy called "On Air, On Sale" that makes music singles available the same day they hit the airwaves, in theory stemming the tide of piracy by making music available legally more quickly. Of course, the number of people actually listening to those radio stations is also dwindling, and whether or not people really want to buy singles vs. entire albums these days remains to be seen. But, hey, earlier is usually better than later, right?
eMusic calls bundled music anticompetitive
Over at the Guardian, music retailer eMusic has weighed in on those rumors about Apple bundling iPods with free iTunes access. It would be "anti-competitive behavio(u)r by a monopolist," the Guardian quotes David Pakman, eMusic's CEO. The plan, which not a lot of people seem to believe is entirely real, would be to sell iPods and iPhones with a set "free music" premium charge that would allow unrestricted access to music over the lifetime of the device. The likely cost would be about $100/device, working out to about $5/month over 18 months. This plan would make music labels "dangerously dependent" (again, according to the Guardian article) on Apple. I'm not sure I follow Pakman's reasoning. The Universal Total Music idea has been around for a while and was originally proposed for non-Apple platforms. If Total Music does pan out for the iPod/iPhone, it seems that it would be Universal Music (or a reasonable music industry facsimile) being anticompetitive not Apple. Thanks, Sebastian Clarke.
Universal Music looking to extract royalties on every iPod sold?
We aren't exactly sure who's getting the shorter end of the stick in Universal Music's "deal" with Microsoft to extract a set fee from every Zune sold, but now its oh-so-mettlesome CEO is thinking of putting the same pressure on ole Steve. While Jobs has certainly had a rather sour relationship with the labels over the years, and has flat our refused to boost music prices (twice) at the iTMS, this predicament could be a fair bit stickier. Doug Morris is reportedly considering asking demanding a royalty fee from every iPod sold now that he's already won the war over at Microsoft, touting Universal's massive music collection on iTMS as something fairly essential to the program's continued success. But things aren't as clear cut as the previous deal, as the Zune Marketplace was (and still is) in a position trying to grab any sliver of market share it possibly can, while Apple's rendition basically owns the digital download realm already. While it's easy to assume that both companies will agree on a ridiculously small fee just to save face, it begs the question of other labels trying to cash in at Jobs' expense if this deal goes down -- but hey, what goes around, comes around, right?
Universal Music CEO says iPods are "repositories for stolen music"
Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris is the latest tech exec to call iPod users thieves. Ballmer started it. Then came Glaser - who also dared call His Steveness "pigheaded." The comment was made in the context of the UMG boss stumping for Zune and applauding Microsoft's agreement to pay protection money extortion royalties to the bag man Universal with every Zune sold. About the iPod, Morris said "These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it,. So it's time to get paid for it."Gee, Doug, you're not still bitter about Apple rebuffing trying to buy your company, are you? Never mind. That was a rhetorical question.
Big Brother producer launches reality show for UK mobiles
With consumers seemingly on the fence regarding mobile TV, it will be interesting to see how a new British reality show fares at selling two-minute daily episodes for 50 pence a pop. "Get Close To...," as the show is known, was developed by Big Brother creator Peter Bazalgette, and will feature content shot by members of the pop group Sugababes while they tour with singer Robbie Williams. In an attempt to make viewers feel more involved with the program (and come back the next day to pay for another installment), the Sugababes will solicit videotaped dance routines that fans can send in for possbile incorporation into the group's stage act, and some of the obligatory reality show "challenges" that the band has to complete will be chosen by the audience. The show, whose first episode airs this Friday, is being viewed as an experiment by co-owners Universal Music, UK carrier O2, and Big Brother-producer Endemol, who seem to be testing the waters for more pay-as-you-go serial programming.[Via MocoNews]
